Can the Defense Department Rekindle Romance With Silicon Valley?

After spending two decades largely ignoring the very Silicon Valley tech start-up culture that it helped bankroll in the 1970s and ’80s, questions remain about a new Defense Department push to reconnect with the California tech world, especially in a post-Snowden era where trust between the two sides has been eroded. Spearheading the new outreach initiative is Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, who after announcing a new cyber and technology strategy at Stanford, plans to hold a series of meetings with tech-related venture capital heads, Facebook execs, and owners of small companies to try and smooth the path for greater collaboration between the military and private industry.

While defense leaders are eager to get into business with Silicon Valley, the Pentagon is hardly the only big government agency looking to make new friends in the region. In an April 22 speech in San Francisco (CA), Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said his department is also setting up a base of operations in the San Francisco Bay area. The idea is much the same as Sec Carter’s, to build relationships in Silicon Valley and ensure that the government and the private sector take advantage of each other’s research and development spending. Sec Johnson added that he wants to “convince some of the talented workforce here in Silicon Valley to come to Washington.” Sec Johnson also pushed back on the tech industry’s demand for greater encryption, saying that it hinders the government’s ability to detect criminal activity. The trend toward deeper encryption is an issue that “presents real challenges to those in law enforcement and national security,” Sec Johnson said. “We need your help to find the solution.”